projects and more projects

i've got so many half-started projects in the works it's not even funny. remember back in may when i mentioned new baby items to launch ellebee baby? well, i made a few prototypes and put them in the hands of my sweet baby nephew to test out their durability and construction for me. my sister-in-law is possibly the cutest new mom on earth, and keeps an detailed blog of his escapades and posted a great feature on the fish onesie i made for him! thanks alisa and evan! i'm still working out some design kinks, but i have more onesies and some bibs that i'm working on now, and a space just waiting in the shop for all things ellebee baby.

i finally, finally bought some placemats to use in our dining room, something i've been wanting to do for literally a year or two.

i probably could have made some, but this is one of those projects that i could put on the never-ending "been meaning to do that" list and just let it sit there, or go buy some cute ones and be done with it. $12 for a set at 4 at homegoods sounded like a much better plan to me.

of course, now i'm much more inspired to go ahead and reupholster the dining room chairs. i've had fabric samples picked out for longer than i care to admit, and i need to just go ahead and do it. what's on there now is not the worst in the world, but just not exactly anything i love. i helped my mom reupholster hers one time back in high school right before a dinner party, and it's actually pretty simple to do.

i have them narrowed down to three options, but i really like the tan and blue. i'm excited about finally getting some color in our otherwise extremely neutral dining room, but a little nervous about pulling off the mixed patterns.
right now i'm halfway through processing a pile of digital pictures of new lovely things coming soon to ellebee studio. get ready for new necklaces, earrings, sundress totes, 5x7 notecards, and some fun new surprises!

where did july go?

i didn't mean to take a little two week leave of absence from writing... we've had a bit of a busy spell here in the middle of the summer. for one, we've been hard at work with some projects around the house... my other half has bravely taken on some of the fix-it challenges of owning a 20plus year old house. we've really done so much work on this house in the almost three years we've been married that it was practically a flip! here is my fixer hard at work replacing hardy plank on the side of the house (while i sat on the deck reading a magazine article about refinishing flea market furniture... shh don't tell!)now all he has to do is caulk, prime, and paint those two boards and it's good as new! i'm always amazed at what can be fixed around here. on a limited budget like we are, it's incredible that even when something is so dirty or messed up that you want to just scrap it and buy a new one, usually it looks brand new just from a little repair or a super thorough cleaning.

here are some pictures of the finally-finished placemat bags, as promised earlier, and i'm liking how they turned out (you can click directly on the picture to see a big version).

my favorite especially is the teal one with the flower embroidery. it's got a flower print lining that is really cute and is visible from the outside on the rickrack-ed side seams. if i can get some more pictures taken tomorrow, i hope to have them listed in the shop sometime this week. my little inventory keeps growing and expanding, and i've got some fun new things in the works that i'm really excited about!

i have a few other projects in mind for the house as well, starting with our guest bathroom shower curtain. it's been hanging like a blank white page on an easel for at least a year now, just taunting me. i think i'll start by tea-dying and see what comes from there...

first treasury

i've been featured in an etsy treasury! from what i can tell, folks can purchase a space to feature a collection of items by other etsians... grouped by theme, color, type of item, etc. for example, i saw one once that was anna nicole smith themed and had items in one way or another related to white trash, rich billionaire old men, and marilyn monroe figures. they do expire though, so hopefully you can still see it here for awhile, until it's past the expiration. how exciting!

we got a lot of stuff done house-wise this weekend. we spent the whole day saturday rearranging our living room furniture and having the cable guys come switch the outlet so that we could put the tv on the opposite end of the room. it's really nice to have a change, but its still taking some getting used to. our poor puppy is so confused!

i did actually get some placemat bags made that had been sitting around half-finished in my studio for weeks, and hopefully i'll be able to get them photographed and posted in the shop pretty soon. one of them turned out so cute i'm not sure i can give it up! i have several other works in progress that i think i need to sit and list out so that i can focus and get them finished. stay tuned for pictures!

if i had a million dollars...

... i'd open a store for handmade crafty loveliness. i go by this space all the time and think of it as mine. it used to be a really cute stationary shop, so i had been inside it a couple times before and already knew how great it is, but now that it's for sale, it's taunting me, making me wish i had the means and, well, the means to make it a go. i think it's perfect really:

that's my husband in the last two, showing his enthusiastic support in his reflection in the window, and generously offering his head to show depth perception in the last one (he was tying his shoe)!

so that is my little happy place, my imaginary shop/studio/apartment above. the awning is even already green and i love the window-seat-esque front window! it's good to have inspiration and a dream.

we had a nice, laid back fourth of july with my parents in town and a lot of awesome cheap pizza. we set off some fireworks in our backyard, ate cinnamon rolls and ice cream for dessert, and just generally hung out. it was odd to have a day off in the middle of the week, but nice to have it split the week into two short mini-weeks.

my labor of love for the shop recently has been a new banner... come check it out in full action when you get a minute! my first attempt was using a picture of some green buttons (that i eventually made into button magnets) but i thought it would be better to use an actual product. i'm really happy with how it turned out! this is the button one i vetoed but saved just in case:

i also made a sale last week, so i'm feeling pretty productive shop-wise. i'm about on track with my one sale per month average, which is not where i want to be, but at least somewhat steady. when work slows down a little i think i'll try a bit more marketing... getting geared up for the fall craft shows and what i'm hoping will be a busy holiday season on etsy.

i've added some ellebee stuff to our family page on flickr, it's all hanging out right here just waiting for some comment love. i'll be adding a few new things to the shop soon too!

hope your summer is feeling like this so far:

cupcakes!

i had my wisdom teeth taken out on friday, so it's been a dismal past few days as i've started a new position at work in the haze of pain medication and swollen cheeks. i did, however, wear my little friends to keep me company in the surgery as originally planned, much to the humor of my dentist and his assistant. i was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful sedation is... after i got the i.v. the worst part was over (other than the soreness of the past five days, like i've been clenching my teeth for a month). i've loved the excuse for multiple smoothies, but honestly, if i never see a mashed potato again i don't think i'll mind that much.a few days before that, i had been craving a good cupcake for weeks. not just a good tasting one, but a pretty one. in the spirit of my obsession with cupcake bakeshop, i ended up making mini ones, vanilla with buttercream icing:
and then i discovered it... as if i needed one more thing to burn time on the computer with... the thing i'd heard everyone talk about but hadn't gotten hooked on yet... trolling all the beautiful pictures on the infamous flickr. one simple search for "cupcakes" and check out all the wonderfulness that ensued...

pink cupcakes ... awesome cookie monsters ... flipflop cupcakes! ...

apron cupcake ... little daisies ... stamping cupcakes ... ice cream cupcakes

... simiple stacks ... cupcake scarf! ... pretty tray cupcakes ... red and aqua cupcakes!

... girlie-girl cupcakes ... ornament cupcakes ... pastels ... wedding cupcakes

... i want this in my kitchen ... yarn cupcake ... halloween cupcakes ...

stick cupcakes

obviously i could go on forever. i seriously LOVE cupcakes, but all good things must come to an end! [ps- not completely cupcake related, but if you love pink and brown as much as i do, this loveliness is for you!]